 March/April 2001 (XXXIX 2) |
e Quakers are a bold people who intend to change the world. At least we hope to affect cultural assumptions enough so that there's room for change. Where and how is this work done?
Much Friends' work aimed at moving history, or just helping someone, starts with thee and me when, at home or on some road somewhere, we sense that first mysterious certainty which we take to be the Divine Voice. Therefore the largest part of what Friends do for social change or service is probably done privately. Tutoring children, serving well in local government, offering training in Alternatives to Violence, or developing trust with a legislator and providing information she needs, all these are services which help create the future.
If you are a solitary activist or in a Meeting committee, and need to be in touch with others sharing your concern, contact PYM's Meetings' Initiatives Coordinator for Peace and Concerns, Laurence Sigmond, at 215-843-8747 or laurence@philapeace.org. He'll be pleased to visit your Meeting or help you by phone.
Monthly Meetings vary greatly in what they do in the world. Some carry out complicated arrangements to shelter homeless people or support a community peace center. Some lift up a member in a major calling. Some are inactive. Some Meetings or individuals add voice to statewide organizations where, as is the case with the death penalty, the campaign is conducted at the state level.
Certain major projects are done under the care of Yearly Meeting. The selection of where Yearly Meeting invests its resources for peace and the social issues depends on whether some group of Friends is called to a concern and then led to take some action in regard to it. If none of us are led to come forward, there is no formal Yearly Meeting working group on that concern.
What an array of activities God calls us to in our Yearly Meeting working groups! Some send travelers to the Balkans or Haiti to demonstrate some reconciling or helping service. Some take leadership on the serious issue of global warming in the national and state councils of churches. Some witness to a "ministry of presence" in the city, in the Fairhill neighborhood and at the Workcamp Center in Philadelphia. And there is more.
If you would like to join a Yearly Meeting working group or if you are considering launching a new Yearly Meeting project, we're looking for people like you and are now handing out applications for future projects. To start call Joan Broadfield at the Yearly Meeting office at 215-241-7230 or call me at 215-848-0592.
Elizabeth R. Marsh
Green Street Meeting (PA)
Clerk of Peace and Concerns Standing Committee
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM